Briscoe Named Neufeld Professor
The Cornell Board of Trustees has elected Forrest Briscoe as the Maurice and Hinda Neufeld Founders Professor in Industrial and Labor Relations.
“Briscoe’s research has pushed the boundaries of understanding the interaction between companies, social activists and change processes. The professorship will enhance this work and support the involvement of ILR graduate and undergraduate students in the research,” said Alex Colvin, Ph.D. ’99, ILR’s Kenneth F. Kahn ’69 Dean and Martin F. Scheinman ’75, M.S. ’76, Professor.
Briscoe, who joined the faculty this year, teaches and researches organization theory and strategic management. His research explores how companies and institutions evolve to reflect a changing society, how social movements influence organizations and how employment practices affect people’s careers and societal inequality.
“The professorship will allow me to take research risks and pursue emerging topics that don’t easily fit into existing paradigms,” said Briscoe, whose professorship began Nov. 1.
Two new projects the professorship will support involve research on the role of artificial intelligence in how companies and social activists interact.
One project investigates how AI will change the methods used in specific research areas. “To study what happens when companies are targeted by activists, we obviously need high-quality datasets that capture the phenomenon. To create those datasets, we traditionally hired research assistants to read news stories for hours on end. Now we’re developing a new method utilizing AI, and checking how it performs relative to the traditional method.”
Another project explores the role of AI bots in the online interactions between companies and social activists. “Anecdotally, bots can influence the supply of online criticism aimed at companies and those companies’ responses. But studying this phenomenon is theoretically and methodologically challenging, as it requires combining expertise on organizations, social movements, social media and AI.”
“For all my research projects, I am excited about working with ILR students, including undergraduate ILRies. In studying these new topics that involve novel social phenomena and digital technologies, I have a feeling that some of the best insights are going to come from these talented young people,” Briscoe said.